


Lawful Good

by szhismine



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Study, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 08:29:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21296522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/szhismine/pseuds/szhismine
Summary: A man with no destiny, and a man too certain of his. The Captain and the Vicar, learning to live life again.
Relationships: Vicar Max/The Captain (The Outer Worlds), Vicar Maximillian DeSoto/Male Captain (The Outer Worlds)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Lawful Good

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t finished the game yet, so there won’t be endgame spoilers for a good long while.
> 
> Vague timeline, kinda starts towards the beginning of the game once all the companions are recruited. I’m sure I’ll do a chapter about Max’s companion quest at some point.
> 
> This will start as a collection of drabbles and short chapters that tie together, we’ll see how it goes from there. 
> 
> My Captain is based on my OC from Fallout 4, Elliott Graham.
> 
> Let me know what y'all think! Enjoy!

The Unreliable was quiet, save for the humming of the engine as it propelled the ship through space and kept its inhabitants alive. Parvati was no doubt tinkering with some system or another, but everyone else was probably in their rooms by now. Ship time was 0200, but the captain of the ship was wide awake.

When he wasn’t Alex Hawthorne, captain and smuggler, he was Elliott Graham, a nobody who was awoken from a 70-year stasis sleep on a whim. While he was grateful to Phineas for the opportunity to save the rest of the people on the Hope, it would’ve been nice if his first act in this new world hadn’t been squishing aforementioned smuggler with an escape pod. 

Elliott’s already morbid sense of humour usually kept the guilt at bay. Some nights that wasn’t enough, and so he was in the cargo hold, sitting cross-legged on the floor as he tinkered with his handgun. _‘Busy hands distract busy minds,’_ his mother used to say. He shook his head, trying to keep his bangs out of his eyes as he worked. His red hair was becoming unruly, but there wasn’t a person in the whole galaxy he’d trust to give him a haircut.

The silence was pierced by approaching footsteps, and then a voice. “…Not a fan of chairs, Captain?”

“Heh. Got more room to work this way.” Elliott glanced up and smiled crookedly. “You’re up late, Max.”

“So are you. And please, Captain, if I address you by your title, you could at least show me the same courtesy.”

“Sorry, _Vicar_.” Elliott corrected with a snicker. 

Standing in front of his captain, Vicar Maximillian DeSoto rolled his eyes. “Kids these days, no respect for their elders,” he grumbled, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

Elliott chuckled, looking down at the pistol in his hands. “C'mon now, Max, you’re not even ten years older than me. You can give the 'grumpy old man’ routine a rest.”

“No I can’t!” Max crossed his arms. “I have an image to maintain.”

“I’m the only one here!" 

"Captain, please. I don’t want to lose face in front of the others, especially Felix and Ms Holcomb. They’re so… young. Inexperienced. I need to set an example for them.”

“So you’re doing it for their benefit?" 

There was a hint of challenge in Elliott’s tone, and it made Max straighten defensively. "Of course I am. Who else-”

“You.” Elliott stood, setting his pistol on the workbench before turning to face Max fully. “You’re doing it for yourself. Putting up a wall, keeping yourself apart from them.”

Max bristled, his fists clenching. “You don’t know what you’re talking about." 

Elliott sighed, an expression of disappointment crossing his face. "Unfortunately, I do. Just… just keep that in mind.” He walked past Max, slowing for a moment as their arms brushed, but he continued on without another word.


End file.
